Traditionally, a piper served a 7-year apprenticeship before being unleashed on the unsuspecting public.
These are my 7 years.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Daughter #1 came into my office (in the closet) yesterday morning VERY early and said that Daughter #2 had called off the wedding. Not that she had, but that Jeff had called it off, and 2nd Daughter didn't want me running in there to yell at her. Of course I didn't. This changes many things.

1) No more rush to get bridesmaid dresses done.

2) 1st and 2nd Daughter will be sharing a room for longer than was originally planned.

3) Christmas stocking doesn't need to be finished so quickly.

4) Don't have to try to get the dates off from work.

5) There are a lot of things like wedding gifts and announcements and apartements and relatives' logistics that no longer have to be dealt with.

My poor little girl. She had definitely been crying, and I kept seeing evidence of crying on her face all day. She really loves him, and does not want to lose him. I can't figure this one out: why did he do this? Didn't he already get confirmation? Why did he ask again? It seems like HF said, "I already answered that question. Next question . . . " The funny thing is, 1st Daughter, who usually takes it as a personal insult when her friends fall in love and/or get married, kinda likes Jeff. Anyway, we came home last night and found them snuggled up on the couch and 2nd Daughter was all smiles, but no wedding. I dunno. Guess I'll go practice. (I'm still making the Christmas stocking. I'm still hopeful to have him as a son-in-law.)

Friday, August 22, 2008

The games went well. We got off on time with a full trunk, but got stuck in traffic so were late picking up Michelle in Brigham City. But we got there, and HH got her stuff squoze into the trunk somehow without breaking either the trunk or the stuff.

We took the long way to Jackson, WY, passing through beautiful valleys and climbing laboriously up beautiful mountains. We got TB, but we got there.

Games day dawned cold and bright. Oweing to the fact that HH and SS stayed in the hotel with us the night before instead of driving to Yellowstone and camping someplace, which place they would only have reached after 10pm, they drove us to the fairgrounds where the games were held and THEN left. So we had breakfast and then realized we were on in 15 minutes. I had one of Cat's solos and my 2 all at the same time: 8:45. So I hurriedly got Dennis to tune me and played the 2/4 march, Lady Lever Park, and did OK. Then we were on for the 6/8, Dugal Gillespie, which I totally ruined. Couldn't remember the 3rd part, so I played the 1st part again. Cat did beautifully, keeping on playing despite my fumblings. Then I did my 2/4, same as before, and did OK. Then I had a 5 minute break where I had Dennis tune me again and I did my slow air. Both judges said my drones and chanter were out of tune with each other. I wonder if Dennis sabotaged them? So after than rather harried 20 minutes, we had some hours to kill until massed bands at noon, then the Mill set at 1:20 and the Timed Medley at 3:20. During that time we looked at the booths (all 10 of them) and I introduced Cat around. Here she is with her relatives, Dusty, (Cat), Kathy, Mr., and BJ Gunn, from MY band! And all drummers, too!

We, as a band, seemed to play flawlessly, but in the end they would have given us 4th if we'd had 6 pipers. We had 5. So I dunno what happened. We got pretty tired by the end of the day, so that I was brain dead when it was time to switch to McCallum chanters and tune up for the closing massed bands.When Jason listened to my chanter, he asked, sort of randomly, "Why are you so flat?". Being brain dead and not monitoring my speech, I just said what came into my head: "Genetics." He chuckled and said he deserved that. When he listened to the next set of pipes, instead of asking the same question, he said, "You're flat-chested, too." It was something to laugh about as we struggled home with all our kit, including a (very heavy) snare drum. We got changed and rested up and went out on the town looking for a quick and cheap dinner. Difficult to find on Games day in a tourist town. We had pizza and a lovely discussion, went back to the hotel and watched the Beijing Olympics until we fell asleep.

We went home the quick way. Cat proudly displayed her 2 silver medals to all and sundry, and to our collective entertainment. She deserved them; she kept on playing when I was foundering in the mud of my memory. We decided they were for poise and presence, not necessarily for playing. But hey! Medals are medals, no matter what they are for! Her flights home were uneventful, too, for once.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

It's almost time for the Jackson Games in Wyoming. Catherine is flying out here to go with us. I have her drum already, and she should be arriving at 1600 today. We are all excited to have her. She will finally get to meet Daughter #2(see left) and we get to compete together at Jackson, doing Lady Lever Park and/or Dugald Gillespie. We have been cleaning all week, to have things nice for her, but I think it would take a year of bulldozing to make this house "Parade of Homes"-ready. [sigh] Things have been cleaned that haven't been cleaned in a LONG time. The house looks lovely. I wish I'd had time to shampoo the carpet, but food for the girls staying home is priority.We are also taking Michelle, another piper from Grade 3, up with us.